A conventional wireless communication network typically includes a plurality of radio devices communicating over a licensed spectrum within either a narrowband or broadband system. During operation within a narrowband licensed spectrum, radio devices communicate using a single narrow bandwidth channel. The use of single narrow bandwidth channel however, may result in a loss of packets during communication due to fading. In some broad band wireless communication systems, such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), a set of usable frequencies is identified and used for communication amongst the radio devices. A disadvantage associated with using a set of frequencies however, is that if the coherence bandwidth of a channel exceeds that of transmitted or received information signal, then the frequency components experience correlated fading. Thus, both narrowband and broadband conventional systems operating within licensed spectrums face issues with fading. The problems with fading are further exacerbated in non-stationary conditions where channel coherence time is small. Selecting a single channel for transmitting an entire slot or data packet may result in poor performance, as the selected channel may exhibit fast fading.
In an attempt to address the issues of fading, many conventional systems rely on spatial or delay diversity schemes but these schemes are limited as to available gain. Due to the limited spectrum available to conventional licensed systems, frequency diversity has not been feasible.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a way to use multiple frequencies or channels for communication by radio devices within a communication system operating within a licensed spectrum.